Fourteen Killed, Three Wounded in Violence in Algeria

Fourteen people, including 10 Islamic militants, were killed and three wounded over the past 48 hours in Algeria, the Algerian press reported Tuesday.

Fourteen people, including 10 Islamic militants, were killed and three wounded over the past 48 hours in Algeria, the Algerian press reported Tuesday.

Ten Islamic extremists were killed and one captured on Monday in an army bombing operation in the Mizrana forest, some 100 kilometers east of the Algerian capital, the daily Le Jeune Independant said.

Algerian fighter jets raked the area over the past few days and the army fired heavy artillery into the heavily wooded area, the paper said.

Four people were killed Sunday at a fake roadblock in Ben Allal, near Miliana, 120 kilometers west of Algiers, El Khabar said.

Reports said armed militants sprayed a car at the roadblock with gunfire before decapitating two of the victims.

Three soldiers were wounded Monday in a bomb explosion near Saida, 430 kilometers southwest of Algiers, while participating in a army mopping-up operation against armed groups, reports said.

About 1,000 people have been reported killed in Algeria, including some 200 Islamic extremists, since a six-month amnesty called by the government for the fighters expired on January 13th - ALGIERS (AFP)